FINCHforum

Do any of you have this book? I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. I've bought several smaller finch books and am wondering if I should invest in this one.

Thanks.

CoMtnGal

At this stage 'no'.
I haven't come across that one yet, but maybe our friend w.I has. Let's see if he chimes in on this....

It's a rather obscure and very expensive Australian-published book that gets good review on one website but is too expensive for me to buy, considering that I already have the two volumes of an even more expensive German book on estrildid finches that I think can't be surpassed. The cheapest copy I found is $99, plus shipping from AU! If you still decide to get it, please describe it here.

A word of warning: I have in the past read that AU books tend to take a different approach to finch-keeping than those from other countries, eg describe how finches breed in well-planted outdoor aviaries that the AU climate makes more popular down there. This book may or may not be like that.

For those of us using indoor cages and aviaries I think the cheap but excellent The New Finch Handbook gives more than enough info to start with.

I've done a bit more research about this book, and found important info here:

http://www.avianpublications.com/items/ ... tem605.htm

It covers a total of 70 species of "finches" which may sound a lot, until you notice that the species covered cone from a number of families: estrildid finches, true finches, cardinals, grassquits, sparrows, weavers and whydahs. 70 species from 7 families would mean an average of 10 species per family, which is not a lot, even if we assume that estrildid finches get more coverage than the others.
70 species from that many families are covered in many other books, too.
And if your main interest is estrilidid finches, you can find books that describe many more species than this book is likely to. The New Finch Handbook for example only includes estrildid finches, but then over 50 of those.
Since most of us keep mostly estrlidid finches, rather than weavers, sparrows, whydahs etc, this is an important consideration.

All species kept by CoMtnGal are estrildid finches, too.

Bearing the probably limited number of estrildid finches covered in mind, the book is likely to contain detailed info on those species that are included in it, and probably also good general info - the unanimously high ratings must be good testimonies for that.

Wow. Thanks everyone for your input! Great information. I have the finch handbook and have coming the new one and a few others too. I'll review them here when they come.

So, what have you decided about the Companion?
Get it or not?

I'd also be interested in hearing what else you've ordered.
These days when fewer and fewer people read books, I am still a great believer in good books and really like to hear of others appreciating them, too.

I decided to not get the readers companion. I did order:

Estrildid Finches of the World by Derek Goodwin,
Complete encyclopedia of cage and aviary birds by Ester Verhoef,
Finches and Sparrows by Peter Clement (I'm an experienced birder and photographer, I love this book!) and
The New Finch Handbook.

Other finch books I have are The Finch Handbook - love this!

Finches and softbilled birds by Hank Bates. Lots of great photos and interesting info.

CoMtnGal

The Finch Handbook and The New Finch Handbook might just be two editions of the same book - check for the author and if they are indeed the same, try and cancel one as the two editions are almost identical.
The others are solid choices, though I can't personally speak for Goodwin's book which is the only one of the lot I have yet to get.
Again, I'd still recommend considering the Hancock House book at some point.

Nice to see "book fever" spreading on the forum!

At the recommendation of one of our members, I will move this topic to the Resources forum, so it will be available to all.

CoMtnGal

How is your booklist?
Have you received your orders or ordered more?

I'm particularly interested in hearing what extras Goodwin's book has to offer over Clement's, and if you think it's still worth buying if I already have the latter.

w.l. I did get my books! Haven't ordered more. I wanted the other edition of the Finch Handbook to see what the difference was. The NEW Finch Handbook is not quite as nice in my opinion. I much prefer The Finch Handbook.

I love the Finches and Sparrows by Clements, etc. Just a great field guide.

Estrildid Finches of the world has a LOT more behavioral information. I have attached a picture of the Contents.

For each species there is quite a bit of info with headers like this:

Description
Field Characters
Distribution and Habitat
Feeding and General Habits
Nesting
Voice
Display and Social Behavior


A great and worthy book in my opinion. I might still have to get the Hancock book..

I have The Finch a breeders companion. Excellent information from all over. Author is internationally traveled and researched far and wide over years of keeping finches. Info is on the species, its subspecies, mutations etc and all relevant information to keeping this bird in captivity. Breeding notes are on what this bird needs to breed and is not exclusive to outdoor breeding - some species just breed better in that sort of set up.

It is nice to have a book with all the info in one place, but the cost is prohibitive. I don't have many of the other recommended finch books as you do, so this is my handbook and I've not invested in many others.

CoMtnGal

At one point I had both editions of Koepff's Handbook and finding the contents 99% identical, I chose to keep the (older) New Finch Handbook as I found it had better selected and arranged photos.

I may still get Derek's book at one point.

How did you find Verhoef's book?

I still recommend you get the Hancock book for the avicultural info on the widest range of species in English, and for the hundreds of photos.

monotwine

Could you upload an image of the table of contents?
I'd be interested to know what species it covers.

monotwine

I second this request! I've caught the book-bug myself, and am compiling a list to purchase. I'd like to see what the The Breeder's Companion has to offer.